Haunted
by batman-defeats-all
Summary: It was said that Peach Creek University was haunted. However, the spirit had never actually been seen. That is, until he takes an interest in one of the new students.


**This story will be... loosely based on Phatom of the Opera. With Kevedd. Because my fandoms tend to take over everything else I love also.**

**I do not own Ed Edd n' Eddy.**

He was supposed to be practicing his reading right now. His parents had told him that there was no point in wasting any time, even at such a young age, parading around in some other child's front yard, throwing around some filthy pig skin. No, it was a much better use of his time if he started his studies now, instead of waiting like the other children certainly would for some underpaid public school teacher to force feed the information to them.

He was not supposed to be outside, peeking over the fence of one of his neighbors, watching with wide eyes as two other children laughed innocently, running around in the summer sun. Yet, young Eddward could not help himself. He wished to be like them, actually being able to enjoy his life, instead of spending it behind closed doors, being filled with nothing but words and numbers, long paragraphs of text and high-level equations. He would be lying if he said he did not enjoy such things, but part of him, deep inside, wished, even if for one day, to be normal.

When one of the children happened to turn in his direction, a boy with ruffled ginger hair nearly completely hidden underneath a red baseball cap, Eddward ducked down with a barely audible squeak, his own raven locks scattering with the swift movement. Biting his lip, he pressed his back against the fence, nervously listening to find out if he had been discovered in his place of hiding.

"... Did you hear anything, Nazz?" Eddward was nearly shaking, certain he was going to be found and that his parents were going to be told of his wandering, and he would be punished for disobeying them-

"What are you talking about, Kev? I didn't hear anything," He froze, a hope growing within him. Perhaps he he would be spared?

"... Yeah, I think you're right," Eddward breathed a long sigh of relief, the air whistling through the gap in his front teeth.

His near discovery putting him off any more rebellion for that day, the small child swiftly ran towards his own house, making sure that his finely polished shoes did not make too loud a sound as he ran on the pavement. As he reached his home, he silently slipped through the back door, placing his shoes in their designated spot and stealthily walking to the staircase, gulping as he passed his parents' laboratory, where they had told him they were going to be working in the whole day..

Just as he took a step in front of the ajar titanium door, however, the boy heard a loud, echoing crash from within. Pausing in his movement, raising an eyebrow, he just started turning his head to see what had happened within the lab when the inferno came rushing toward him.

When Eddward could see some light again, he soon realized that he could not open his eyes anymore than the feeble squinting he was doing currently. His ears seemed to be damaged as well, since he could only hear fragments of the noisy hustle around him.

"-had an accident during an experiment-"

"-kid is still alive-"

"-face is screwed up, though-"

"-lucky that he wasn't in the lab with his parents-"

"-can't even find their remains in all this ash-"

Feeling confused and drowsy, Eddward welcomed the sweet emptiness of unconsciousness when it soon overtook him once again.

A week passed slowly. The child, short even for his age of four, lay on a hospital bed, rarely even twitching, as doctors and nurses bustled in and out of the otherwise empty room, checking his vitals and chiding about how much of a shame his injuries were constantly.

However, when he finally awoke completely, bright blue eyes opening suddenly, it was at one of the few moments of the day when he was completely and utterly alone, his room bare of any life but his own.

Slowly pushing himself out of bed, he rested his feet on the ground, limping to the other side of the room, his eyes now wandering in confusion.

The wandering stopped, however, when his eyes landed on his reflection in a nearby mirror.

Staring in shock at the sight before him, Eddward barely noticed his own hand reaching up and delicately touching the scarred flesh that now covered half of his face.

Suddenly shaking his head, the boy backed away from the image of himself in horror. His young mind racing, the only thing he think of was that, somehow, he had to stay away from people. He was already a freak of nature, to have this on top of all the knowledge that he was not supposed to have yet... Well, there was no way he would ever be accepted into society now, even more so than before.

Heading to the window of the room, he was relived to see that he was placed on a first floor room; the window was literal feet from the grass below. There was no logic in his actions as he hoisted himself onto the ledge; only the fear that was slowly consuming him.

When his feet landed on the rough grass, he immediately broke out in a run, despite his short, thin legs not going at a speed even resembling fast. Tears tingling in the eye that was not effected by the scarring, he soon found himself at the university where his parents had worked.

At first still feeling as desperate as before, not knowing how a bustling school could provide him any shelter from the now cruel and uninviting world, Eddward openly cried out. He stopped, however, when he remembered something his parents had told him only days ago.

About... tunnels. Closed off tunnels that were built underneath the university, no longer in use.

The perfect place for someone who was surely no longer welcome in the sight of the world.

As he starting searching for an entrance to what would be his new home, Eddward did not know that, as he was running past the cul-de-sac where he had lived, one boy, who he had just been watching the week before, happened to be having trouble sleeping and was looking out his window when the smaller child had ran past.

This boy had thusly eventually went to sleep wondering about what would happen to an odd runaway kid who he had seen in the dead of night...


End file.
